Photo by Brian Ulrich, Courtesy of Julie Saul Gallery

Food for Thought: Artists who never got over their parents’ warning “don’t play with your food” March. 6, 2008 - June 29, 2008 Knight Gallery• Opening Reception: Thursday, March 6 from 6 to 9pm featuring a lecture with artist Brian Ulrich at 7:30 Guest-curated by Ariel Shanberg, Executive Director, the Center for Photography at Woodstock

Across the globe, food defines cultures and communities. It comprises and fuels entire economies. Its presentation, delivery, and subsequent consumption can express or stimulate that which words cannot. Every cycle of life within every culture, is in some way marked or symbolized through food. Food For Thought brings together artists working in photography and video whose creations explore personal and cultural connections to food.

Photo by Susana Reisman

Video by Mary Magsamen and Stephan Hillerbrand DOUBLE-CLICK TO PLAY”

Food For Thought features artist photographers Sian Bonnell, Christine Chin, Stephanie Diamond, Lucas Foglia, husband-and-wife video artists Mary Magsamen and Stephan Hillerbrand, Mary Parisi, Susana Reismanand Brian Ulrich.

Photo by Sian Bonnell

Photo by Stephanie Diamond

Brian Ulrich’s work explores contemporary consumer culture; the work in the exhibit is behavioral studies of grocery stores and the people in them. Named one of the years 30 Emerging Photographers by Photo District News magazine (2007), Ulrich’s work is highly collectible. A teacher and artist in Chicago, Ulrich’s work is housed in major museum collections such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, among others. See him lecture at the Opening Reception for Food For Thought.

Photo by Christine Chin

Photo by Lucas Foglia

Photo by Mary Parisi

FUN with FOOD
Food Photo Contest

If you are what you eat and you eat what you see, then it’s time to take out your camera. Be it Andy Warhol’s soup can or da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” some of the best art is inspired by food. The Food for Thought exhibition features everything from fresh crops to genetically modified cooking, consumerism and spam. Now it’s your turn to photograph the statement the world has been waiting to see.

Here’s all you have to do:

Photograph your food-related statement.
Log on to Flick'r. Set up a Flickr account (if you don’t have one already) and join The Light Factory/Charlotte Eye
Food for Thought group.
Follow Flickr’s instructions to add your photo to the group. Please give your name, the location of the photograph and some information about the photo.

Here’s what you can win:

The top six winners will be featured in Charlotte Eye Magazine.
The grand winner will get their photo on the COVER OF EYE!
The grand winner will receive complimentary dinner for two from Blue Restaurant ($150 value, alcohol not included).

Entries will be accepted through Thursday, April 16, so get to it!

Questions? Contact Dee Grano, Director of Marketing at The Light Factory (dgrano@lightfactory.org) or Linnea Beyer, Gallery Manager at The Light Factory (lbeyer@lightfactory.org) at 704-333-9755.

Bobby Hutter

Images of Manhood and Womanhood Light Factory Outreach Project March 27th, 2008-April 20th, 2008 The Light Factory's Middleton McMillan Gallery Opening Reception: Thursday, March 27th 6pm-8pm

The Light Factory is completing an exciting outreach program entitled Images of Manhood and Womanhood. This program investigates gender roles in the media and allows students the opportunity to explore their gender identity through expressive photography, installation art, and performance art. A social studies group from The International School at Garinger and a photography group at North West School of the Arts are participating in this year’s program. The opening reception on March 27, 2008, will feature spoken word and movement performances, installation art, and photographic art created by the students. Charles Thomas and Jen Crickenberger, light factory’s education department, are teaming up with Bluz, from Charlotte Poetry Jam, and Makaila Thomas, actress and performance artist, in conducting this program. When asked about the progress of the program Jen responded, “We have just begun and we are already seeing extremely insightful work from the students. I am sure the final product will be powerful.”

Special Thanks to our Sponsors for Making this program possible:

Andrea Maingon

My Family, Our Stories by ESL Students Light Factory Outreach Project May 1st-July 6, 2008 The Light Factory's Middleton McMillan Gallery Opening Reception: Thursday, May 1st 6pm-8pm

My Faily, Our Stories is an exhibition of student work created by English as a Second Language students at East Mecklenburg High School, North Mecklenburg High School, South Mecklenburg High School and Myers Park High Schools. The exhibition offers a glimpse into the lives of 75 youth who recently immigrated to Charlott and the US.

 

Charles Thomas

Members Exhibition July 12 to September 14, 2008 Middleton/McMillan Gallery Opening Reception: July 12, 2008 Entry Form

 

Connie Sullivan

Into the Mystic Featuring Artists: Connie Sullivan, Heather Freeman, Kit Kube, and Michael Wilson. September 14, 2008 - January 4, 2009 Knight Gallery Opening Reception: October 16, 2008

This exhibition features works that exploit and express one of the most essential elements of photography—light. For years, artists have been fascinated with how light is produced, how it is transmitted, and how it can be transformed. Although photographers have used light in the traditional sense to create photographic prints, others have expanded the process by incorporating light in the presentation of their work. Many artists have recognized the dynamic quality of movement and kinetic energy often found in the still photograph, and have experimented with a variety of techniques ranging from filmmaking to light sculpture environments.

 

The Day of Small Things: Photographs by Michael Wilson September 18, 2008 to January 4, 2009 Middleton McMillan Gallery Opening Reception: October 16

Co-organized with the Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati, OH (the show will travel to Cincinnati in February)
The Day of Small Things is a mid-career retrospective of the work of Michael Wilson, who creates unique and deeply honest photographs that capture the essence of his subjects. He has a particularly keen and sensitive eye for portraits and has photographed some of today’s most important musical artists (Lyle Lovett, Philip Glass, B.B. King, Emmylou Harris, John Hiatt, The Neville Brothers, Rodney Crowell, Randy Newman, Waylon Jennings, Over the Rhine, Bill Frisell, David Byrne, Dawn Upshaw, Renee Fleming, and many others).